I just visited the wonderful strawberry land ’Mahabaleshwar’ at its best in the monsoon a few days back.
Best Season:
Firstly, let me begin with the best season to visit this hillstation. I am aware that most of the tourists prefer visiting it in either summer or winter and avoiding the monsoons. But if you are adventurous and wish to completely engage yourself with nature, then nothing beats the monsoons. Agreed that the place is almost shut during the monsoon, but don’t let that deter you from visiting this place as it will give you an experience of your lifetime and make you feel like you are visiting the exotic valleys of Kashmir.
How to Reach There:
I searched a lot of sites and even MS to find out the best ways to reach Mahabaleshwar by road, but alas, not a single site gave me the exact information that I needed. The most common route taken is via Mahad, but since Mahad was almost inaccessible because of very heavy rains and it being under 4-5 feet of water, I had to use the expressway and find out the way which not many motorists from Mumbai access.
Via Road:
1: Via Mahad - Mumbai - Mahad (Bombay-Goa Road) - Mahabaleshwar
2: Via Pune Expressway - From Mumbai, hit the expressway and before reaching Pune, there’s a bypass. Don’t enter Pune, but take the bypass and catch the National Highway no: 3 which goes to Bangalore (or is it called NH 4). There’s a route which goes to Wai from there, ask anyone for it and you will reach Panchgani in no time.
From Bombay via Pune, Mahabaleshwar is 290 km and via Mahad it is 247 km.
From Bombay via Pune, Panchgani is 270 km and via Mahad 266 km, from Pune 98 kilometers and from Mahabaleshwar 19 km
Mind you, if you come via Mahad, you will reach Mahabaleshwar first, and if you come via Pune, you will reach panchgani first.
Places to Visit:
There are so many beautiful attractions there to visit and your best bet would be to hire a tourist guide who are generally very friendly and charge nominal fees ranging from 100-300 per day (in monsoon). Bargaining would get the rate further down. But in monsoon there are hardly any points worth visiting as its foggy all around, so it makes sense not to appoint any tourist guide. But if you really wish to check out the points, then don’t do it yourself, better appoint a guide as its very foggy everywhere and you will lose your way and end up in ’no-man’s land’ ;)
NOTE: Fog is so much that you can’t see 5 feet ahead. Equip your car with fog lamps (which won’t help much) and get torches if you plan to explore the land on feet.
Tips & Hints:
1: Don’t ever hire a VCD player there as the quality is terrible and you will end up being frustrated. Instead get your DVD/VCD player from your city, that is If you plan to watch movies.
2: Carry a bat and ball and speed off to the tableland at Panchgani to play cricket. The place is 10 times x Shivajipark ground in size and its a very good place to play cricket or Football. The ground is also very even, so you won’t trip and fall. The ball also won’t go down the valley because of the sheer dimensions of the tableland.
3: Don’t forget to eat that hot wonderful ’’butta’’. You will find them all over around.
4: Try Strawberry milkshake and corn patties. They are delicious.
5: Visit atleast 10 hotels before checking in and make sure that the hotel has many other tourists as well. I would recommend Park Plaza or Lakeview. Valleyview resorts is great, but expensive.
6: Forget Pratapgarh fort, Little Kashmir, and Venna lake as they all are shut down. If you are adventurous, you might like to reach Pratapgarh base and trek on feet. Tha’s an experience you won’t forget if you come back alive ;) Go for it, its worth it. We tried and succeeded.
7: During this period the local buildings are covered with Kulum grass to prevent any damage from the harsh rains. Check them out, they look great.
8: This hill resort is situated at an altitude of 1372 metres
9: Never hire a horse in monsoon. Do so gladly if you wish to meet god at his residence.
10: Best restaurants are Nukkad, Poonam, and Harayali (The best)
11: It is located 1, 372 metres above sea level.
That’s all for now. I will add more to this review in a day or two. HANG ON!!!